Most Florida master-planned communities carry a Community Development District assessment on the tax bill — $1,300 to $6,400+ a year, for decades, on top of the advertised price and the HOA. Here’s how it works, what it actually costs (from official district documents, not estimates), and how to check any community before you sign.
When a builder quotes $450,000, that number does not include the CDD. A Community Development District is how Florida master-planned communities finance their own infrastructure: the developer’s district issues bonds to build roads, utilities, stormwater, and amenities, and every home repays those bonds through an annual non-ad-valorem assessment on the property-tax bill — a debt portion (about 30 years) plus an operations & maintenance portion (as long as the district exists). It’s disclosed in your contract, but it is easy to miss in the excitement of a model home. The verified numbers below are what it actually costs, community by community, from the districts’ own documents.
| Community | Total per year | Source year | Full per-village table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Nocatee (Ponte Vedra / St. Johns) | $1,315 – $3,539 | FY2026, all 55 villages | full table |
| RiverTown (St. Johns) | $1,996 – $2,662 | FY2025/26 adopted budget | county database |
| Shearwater (St. Johns) | $2,322 – $2,964 | FY2025/26 adopted budget | county database |
| Aberdeen (St. Johns) | $997 – $2,803 | FY2025/26 adopted budget | county database |
| Epperson / Wesley Chapel (Pasco) | $1,339 – $4,187 | FY2026 adopted budgets | full table |
| Lakewood Ranch CDD 4 (Manatee) | $1,240 – $2,369 | FY2025/26 notice | full table |
| Lakewood Ranch CDD 2 (Manatee) | $304 – $4,655 | FY2025/26 notice (bonds retired — O&M only) | full table |
| Lakewood Ranch CDD 5 (Manatee) | $3,491 – $6,443 | FY2026/27 proposed notice | full table |
Ranges span lot sizes/product types within each community; the linked pages carry the per-village, per-lot-width detail with document citations. CDD 5 figures are proposed FY2026/27 pending adoption.
Take a $2,800/yr CDD: that’s $233 a month, every month — roughly what $40,000 of loan principal costs at current rates. Two identical-priced homes, one with a $600 CDD and one with $3,000, differ by $200/month in true cost; over a 7-year hold that’s $16,800 before considering the HOA stack. This is not an argument against CDD communities — the assessment funds the pools, trails, and town centers that make them worth living in — it’s an argument for doing the comparison with real numbers, which is what the linked tables exist for. The inverse list matters too: our no-CDD community guide covers the communities where the line item simply doesn’t exist.
Before writing a contract: (1) ask the builder for the community’s current assessment schedule by lot size — the district publishes one, so “around $2,000” is not an answer; (2) pull any resale listing’s tax bill in the same community on the county tax collector’s site and read the non-ad-valorem lines; (3) if it’s one of the communities above, use our verified tables; (4) ask whether YOUR phase’s bonds are original or refinanced — newer phases usually carry more debt (Epperson’s 2020-series lots pay more than its 2018-series ones, per the district budget); (5) get HOA dues and any amenity fees as separate numbers, because the CDD is never the whole stack.
CDDs aren’t a scam and aren’t hidden in any legal sense — they’re disclosed, regulated, and they build real infrastructure. What they are is systematically underweighted in how new construction is shopped, because the advertised price doesn’t carry them. Figures above are for the cited fiscal years and change on budget adoption; your specific lot’s number comes from the district or the tax bill, not from any general page — including this one.
All ranges transcribed from official district documents — adopted budgets, budget-hearing notices, and resident assessment lookups — as cited on each linked page (accessed August 2026). Monthly equivalents are annual figures divided by twelve. General information, not a representation about any specific property; verify with the district before contracting.
New to community development districts? Start with the plain-English guide: What is a CDD fee? — what it pays for, what it typically costs, how long it lasts, and how it differs from HOA dues.
A Community Development District assessment - an annual charge on your property-tax bill that repays the bonds that built the community's roads, utilities, ponds, and amenities (the debt portion, typically ~30 years) plus ongoing district operations (the O&M portion, indefinite). It is NOT included in the advertised home price, NOT part of your HOA dues, and NOT optional. From district documents we've verified: roughly $1,300-$4,200+ per year in most large master-planned communities, and above $6,000 in some.
Florida law requires CDD disclosure in the contract, but the advertised base price and most payment estimates lead with principal, interest, taxes, and insurance. A $2,800/yr CDD adds about $233 to the true monthly payment - enough to change what you can afford. Always ask for the community's current assessment schedule by lot size before writing a contract.
Divide the annual assessment by 12: verified examples from official district documents include Nocatee villages at $1,315-$3,539/yr ($110-$295/mo), Epperson in Wesley Chapel at $1,339-$4,187/yr ($112-$349/mo), and Lakewood Ranch districts from $1,240 to over $6,400/yr ($103-$537/mo) depending on neighborhood. Exact per-village tables are on our verified fee pages.
Yes - by buying in communities without a CDD. They exist in every metro, generally in older neighborhoods and some smaller new developments; our no-CDD community guides list verified options. The trade-off is usually older infrastructure or fewer amenities versus a master-planned community's pools, trails, and town centers - which is exactly the cost-versus-amenities decision the fee tables let you make with real numbers.
The debt portion ends when that neighborhood's bonds are repaid - typically around 30 years from issuance, and older districts (like Lakewood Ranch CDD 2, per its FY2025/26 notice) already show $0 debt. The operations & maintenance portion continues as long as the district operates. Some owners can prepay the bond portion - get a payoff quote from the district before assuming it's worth it.
